


Enthralled

by CantatriceX (Cantatrice18)



Category: Penny Dreadful (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Extended Scene, F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Non-Consensual Touching, Rape/Non-con Elements, Season Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 22:30:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3093953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/CantatriceX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the battle Mina has Vanessa in her power. Sir Malcolm, disarmed, can only watch as Mina's attentions to Vanessa get very, very personal. </p>
<p>A reimagined end to 1x08</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enthralled

“Vanessa!”

At the sound of Mina’s voice Vanessa turned, running to embrace her long-lost friend. Sir Malcolm looked on in amazement, joy welling within his heart until he felt like it would burst. She looked so whole, so well, his Mina: after such a long imprisonment, he’d feared the worst. Her sparkling blue eyes met his and he began to smile, but his expression froze when her eyes grew dark as night, the whites fading to blackness. With more strength than he would have thought her capable of, Mina grasped Vanessa’s shoulders and spun her violently, one arm wrapping tightly around the young woman’s waist, the other reaching up to grasp her chin, pulling her close. “You’ve brought her to me. You’ve done well.”

Slowly, Malcolm reached for his gun, but Mina saw his motion and laughed. “Going to shoot me, Father? I can’t have that.” To his horror he felt the gun slide out of his grip and clatter to the floor a yard away. Mina’s smirk was nauseating, the pointed tips of her teeth visible over her lower lip. “The Master has taught me much. I am now who I was always meant to be. You’ll understand, when you join him.” She looked down at the woman trapped in her arms. Perhaps understanding her friend’s newfound strength, Vanessa had chosen not to struggle. Her docility seemed to amuse Mina no end. The blonde’s sharp nails traced patterns over Vanessa’s white skin, leaving delicate trails of red as they went. “My Vanessa. But not mine for long, no…you’ll be his soon. Such a pity.” She shifted slightly and began to lazily undo the fastenings on Vanessa’s jacket. “I’ve missed you so, my friend, my dearest. We were like sisters once…or were we?” Shoving the jacket aside, she rent through the delicate silk of Vanessa’s blouse, leaving it in tatters and baring the corset below. “Did sisters ever do the things we did? The secret caresses, the touches at night – in those years you were all mine. The Master had not yet marked you as his own.”

“Mina, please…this isn’t you, you’re not like this.” Sir Malcolm took a cautious step forward, but halted at a glare from Mina and a sharp intake of breath from Vanessa. Mina’s delicate brows were knit together in anger. “How dare you presume that you know me, _Father _. You were never there. You never saw what went on in your own house, always off in Africa leaving a blood-soaked trail behind you.” Her demonic eyes suddenly brightened with malice, and she smiled, showing off her unnatural fangs. “But you can see now, everything that went on, and more besides. Will it arouse you, I wonder, watching her writhe? If I defile her will you be proud, Father? Will you?” Vanessa uttered a cry of pain as Mina snapped the lacings on her corset, thrusting the ruined garment aside. Sir Malcolm could see cuts and scratches across Vanessa’s bare chest, bleeding slowly. He also saw, with an uncomfortable pang, that every one of Vanessa’s ribs was clearly visible, her skin the translucent white of a recent invalid. She had barely recovered from the madness that had nearly taken her life. He never should have permitted her to come, but of course he couldn’t have kept her home, not with the promise of rescuing Mina so real, so close by. He watched helplessly as Mina’s hand ran sensuously over Vanessa’s breasts, caressing them. Mina noticed his stare and laughed raucously, increasing her attentions to Vanessa’s body. “You like that, do you Father? Wait until you see her dance.”__

__Malcolm could not see exactly what Mina was doing, but he did see Vanessa’s reaction. The captive woman stiffened and blushed, a red tinge high along her cheekbones, her lips parting slightly as her breathing grew heavier. Her fists were clenched and he could tell that she was trying with all her might to remain in control of herself. Their eyes met for an instant and he saw the terror and despair that threatened to overwhelm her. “Mina,” he called urgently, “Mina, stop this, I beg you.”_ _

__Mina ignored him, her attention on Vanessa. “You’ve missed me, haven’t you? I can tell you have. You love me, my sister, don’t you?”_ _

__“…yes,” Vanessa choked out, trembling from the effort of suppressing the demon within her._ _

__Mina stroked her hair, feeling the weight of it between her fingers. “I know you do, more than anything or anyone. That’s why you thought of me that night, when he was on you, when you betrayed me. You wanted my hands to touch you like that, to enter you and bring you pleasure.”_ _

__Vanessa moaned, turning her head so that she would not have to look at Sir Malcolm, her eyes filled with tears of humiliation and desire. The sight was so wretched that it took a moment for him to realize that Mina was speaking to him. “…not easy. You got in the way, aboard the plague ship. We could have had her then, the Master and I, but you chose to leave her behind.” Mina’s bottomless eyes narrowed dangerously. “Your interference could have ruined everything. But the Master has his bride, and he will sire generations upon her. I only hope that when she is his queen he will still let me have my taste.”_ _

__Mina turned Vanessa to face her and the young woman offered no resistance. Malcolm saw that Vanessa’s eyes were closed as though she were resigned to her fate. It was that very submissiveness from a woman whose spirit he knew so well that finally broke something within him. As Mina leaned in to kiss Vanessa, Malcolm closed the distance between them in three strides, backhanding his daughter and knocking her to the floor. The attack came as a surprise to her, but she recovered quickly, hissing at him with bared fangs, He threw up his arms to shield himself as she came after him, a demon in white, and caught her by the shoulders, barely avoiding the snap of her teeth. The pair struggled, Mina’s inhuman strength threatening to overpower him, when suddenly Malcolm heard the sharp report of a gun and felt Mina stiffen. Another shot rang out and Mina fell to the floor, her dark eyes blank and staring. Looking up, he saw Vanessa kneeling, a revolver clutched in her hand. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Mina’s lifeless body, her mouth open in horror. With a sob of anguish she collapsed, her entire body shaking as she wept. Slowly and stiffly, Sir Malcolm rose to his feet and crossed to her. His mind was numb; he did not know what to think or feel. When she recognized who stood over her she looked up at him, and he realized with a jolt of dread that she still held the revolver. She held it out to him, pleading with him silently. He knew what she wanted: he himself had sworn many times in her presence that he would gladly be the one to kill her. Now his Mina was dead, and at her hand, yet as he gazed down at her he could find no trace of murderous hatred within him. Vanessa was not the monster he’d so longed to slay. She was just a girl. Carefully, he took the revolver from her and set it aside, out of her reach. Without pausing to consider, he knelt and embraced her as tenderly as he had when she was a child. She was still bare to the waist, her remaining clothes stained with her own blood, and she shivered against him in the cold December air. He removed his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders, waiting for her trembling to subside. The others came in and he heard their muttered expressions of alarm and dismay as they surveyed the strange scene: Mina dead, Vanessa half-naked and overwrought, and he himself embracing Vanessa like a daughter. He glanced around until he caught Sembene’s eye. “We will need the carriage brought round, discreetly, and as quickly as possible. Victor,” he motioned the scientist towards Mina’s prone body, “take care of that. I want the body prepared for a proper burial. She deserves a final resting place near her family.”_ _

__The pair of men obeyed as Ethan walked cautiously over to Malcolm and Vanessa. “Is she alright? I mean, did Mina—was she hurt in the fighting?”_ _

__Malcolm shook his head. “She’s not seriously injured, I don’t believe. But she does require rest, and soon, so if you wouldn’t mind—Ah. Sembene.”_ _

__Sembene entered and nodded silently to Malcolm, indicating that the carriage waited outside. Malcolm struggled to stand, still supporting Vanessa, and Ethan stepped forward to help. “I’ve got her, Sir Malcolm. If you’ll just let me—“_ _

__“No,” Malcolm cut him off, rather curtly. “Thank you, but I’ll take her myself. If you would aid Victor in recovering the body, I would be most appreciative.”_ _

__With one last anxious look back, Ethan departed, leaving Malcolm alone once more with Vanessa. The young woman leaned against him, her eyes half-closed and her expression blank. After a moment’s hesitation he gathered her into his arms, letting her head rest on his shoulder, and carried her out the stage door and into the waiting carriage. The coachman, true to form, asked no questions, but took them home directly. Throughout the journey Malcolm did not let go of Vanessa, keeping a protective arm around her shoulders. For her part, she clung to him as though he were her lifeline. Once home he ascended the stairs with her and brought her to her room, setting her down as he crossed the threshold. Wordlessly, he helped her into her nightgown and led her to the bed, covering her with blankets and tucking them in around her to keep her warm. She was still worryingly silent, and he feared her ordeal might have triggered a return to the madness, but as he turned to go she finally spoke. “I’m sorry.”_ _

__There was nothing he could say. She had killed his daughter, yes, but his daughter had already been beyond help, and in killing Mina she had saved his life. If not for her transgression Mina might not have been captured, but there was truly no way to be sure. He’d seen enough, during their weeks of fruitless searching, to realize how deeply she cared about his daughter; tonight’s revelations had only confirmed his suspicions as to the girls’ childhood relationship. And after all, hadn’t her fits of madness and possession proved that she was not wholly responsible for her behavior, then or now? There were larger forces at work within her and about her. Reaching out, he ran a gentle hand over her dark hair. “I know, my dear. I’m sorry too.”_ _

__He stayed at her side until she slept, then left, closing the door quietly behind him and walking slowly to his study. Time and suffering had hardened his heart, guilt and hatred carving indelible marks upon his soul. Vanessa was the physical manifestation of everything he’d lost, and the target of his rage and contempt. He could never fully forgive her, that much he knew, but he could learn to live with her. After everything they’d been through together, she deserved some measure of peace. They both did._ _


End file.
